Agent Grace Jackson
by keristen.caldwell
Summary: When Agent Coulson is pronounced dead, someone needs to take over his place. When Grace Jackson signs up for the job, she has no idea what she's getting to. But when she finds out that Agent Coulson isn't dead, and how her new "friends" are receiving her, she begins to think that she's in over her head...
1. Surprise

Grace Jackson sat in the back of the black SUV with the tinted windows. Each bump in the road jostled her entire body. She was so nervous the tension was starting to get to her. She resituated herself in the seat, and looked up at the rearview mirror. The driver was still looking at her. _Shouldn't he be keeping his eyes on the road?_ He obviously wasn't going to break the connection, so she looked away first.

_I can't believe I got myself into this mess._

The driver hit another pothole in the road, and Grace felt like she was being thrown all over the back seat of the SUV.

About five minutes later, the SUV came to an abrupt halt.

"Don't get out," the driver said, as Grace was unbuckling her seatbelt. "We're not stopping here."

A tall, dark figure got in the back seat of the SUV with her, and slammed the door behind him. The figure nodded at the driver, and he pulled back out into the traffic.

"Miss Jackson…," the gruff, burly voice said. "We are not far away from your destination. We will be arriving shortly, and you will soon be starting your new line of work. You better be ready for this," the figure stated.

Her courageous side finally took hold at his words, and she said, "Excuse me, but I normally like to know who I'm speaking to."

The figure chuckled deeply. Not a cute, throaty, hot-man chuckle. No, a deathly, evil, chuckle. Then, he just continued to sit there staring at her, but she couldn't see him.

He slowly took off his hood and shades… _ Agent Coulson?! What the-?!_

"I thought you were dead!" Grace replied.

He slowly said, in his now normal voice, "I am."

She just looked at him, dumbfounded.

"I am dead…" He said again. "That's why you're here. I have to remain under the radar, so you're the new me. Although you don't look like much, so I don't really understand why you're here."

"I am here because I was the best recruit for the job!" Grace replied, taking control of her anger. "I did 100% more than any of the others who applied for this job. I'll show you that I was meant to be here!"

He looked at her, and smiled as they came to a stop.

"Thanks Brutus," Coulson said, looking up at the driver.

Then again at Grace, he asked, "Are you ready to meet your new friends?"


	2. Getting An Ear Full

Grace Jackson followed Agent Coulson into the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters.

"Agent Maria Hill will be briefing you on your duties here," Agent Coulson said as they worked their way through the winding corridors. "You won't be starting out where I left off. You have some work to do to get you to the top. Until I feel that you can fill my shoes sufficiently, Agent Hill will fill that spot."

"Absolutely Agent Coulson, although, if I may be so bold, I don't believe I will need much prepping to get into that top spot," Grace replied.

Agent Coulson turned around and looked her dead in the eye. Very harshly, he said, "Listen, Miss Jackson, I need to point a few things out. S.H.I.E.L.D is a tight-run organization with only the finest workers with occupations that can suck every last drop of life out of a person. There are people who slave for years to get to the spot where you're starting, so consider yourself very lucky that I am not making you start from the bottom. Arrogance is not welcomed here, and in turn, you won't be either. Your new friends have enough of it in them to spread throughout the entirety of S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters. That said, you all should get along fine."

Grace stood there, completely stunned at Agent Coulson's words. Her new friends? Wait- what?

Agent Coulson's phone buzzed, and he answered it, "Yes?"

He gave Grace a wry look then said, "She's here… Right away."

He then clicked his phone shut, and said, "Follow me…"

"Where are we going?" Grace asked. They continued to wind their way through hallways, passing people in lab coats, jump-suits, and all sorts of odd uniforms.

"Fury wants to speak to you first," Agent Coulson said.

"What?" Grace asked. "I can't talk to Fury."

"You can and you will. If you want to make it here, fear isn't an option," Coulson replied.

"I'm not afraid of Nick Fury!" Grace said shocked.

Agent Coulson turned back to look at her and said, "Yes you are. I can see it in your eyes. Listen, it's like playing in the big leagues. You have to get on good terms with the coach, or you're going to be benched."

Grace scoffed at the analogy, but said nothing.

Agent Coulson led grace into an office with a large, mahogany desk in the front center. Nick Fury slowly spun around to face them.

"So this is the one we've been waiting for? That's it…?" Fury asked.

"This is her sir…" Coulson replied.

Trying to make a good impression, Grace said, "Agent Grace Jackson, reporting for duty sir."

Nick Fury started laughing hysterically.

Grace looked at Coulson, and he looked back at her, just as bewildered.

"Hahahaha… you think, you're already an agent?" Nick Fury asked.

"Well I-"

"Hahaha… honey, have you got a lot to learn," Nick replied. "Coulson, the morons at the University sure picked you a good one."

"No one picked me!" Grace shouted. "I signed up to train in a league for only the toughest recruits who were willing to face up to the monsters of everyday society! The only reason I'm here, is because I excelled far beyond any of those who came up against me. I wasn't chosen... I worked my way here!"

"Now you just settle down lady," Nick Fury said after her outburst. "Do you know what S.H.I.E.L.D stands for?"

Grace replied, "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

Nick Fury replied, "Well now, at least you do know a few things. You've got attitude, and you're a spitfire I'll give you that. Agent Hill will have fun with you."

He then pressed a button on his desk, and Agent Hill entered the room.

"Sir?" Hill asked.

"Agent Hill, this is Grace Jackson, the new recruit," Nick Fury stated. "I need you to train her to take Coulson's place. Don't take it easy on her."

"Sir… with all due respect I believe-"

"Hill, I gave you an order. Besides, you'll have fun with this one," Fury cut her off.

Agent Hill looked Grace up and down, then said, "You better be able to keep up. The first thing on the agenda, is meeting The Avengers."


	3. The Avengers

Agent Maria Hill was not going to make Grace Jackson's first few weeks on base easy ones. Grace was trying furiously to keep up with Agent Hill's brisk pace, yet trying to ease the tension by asking her some questions.

Agent Hill must have been fed up with the barrage of questions because she stopped, turned on her heel, and gave Grace that little smirk. You know the one. Where in school, a popular girl would come up to you and say, "This will hurt you more than me, but you just don't fit in."

"Look Miss Jackson. I don't mean to be curt, but we are _NOT _friends. Emphasis on the _NOT._ I should not be the one training you, I should be training to take the spot meant for you to fill. I have been Fury's right-hand agent since Coulson went underground. If you even think for one fraction of a second that I am going to make this easy for you, you've got another thing coming," Agent Hill said in that sing-song voice of someone who thinks they're better than you.

Grace stood there, fuming on the inside, but retaining her composure on the outside.

"If you think you should be in my spot, why don't you go ahead and try to take it," Grace replied.

The two head-strong women stood rigid, eyes locked, and both waiting for the other to make the first move.

Suddenly, they both heard a loud crashing sound coming from the wall in front of them. Getting louder and louder by the second, Agent Hill knew what was coming.

"Run!" Agent Hill shouted as she un-holstered her handgun.

Grace and Agent Hill both had just enough time to jump out of the way before the wall came crumbling down. They both barely caught a glimpse of a very angry Hulk crash through one wall and into the next. The two stared through the gaping hole in the wall after the retreating green man. The women then looked in the direction Hulk had come from and saw Tony Stark sitting in a lone chair a few rooms back.

"We were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors," Tony said in all seriousness. Then, busting out laughing he added, "He lost!" Tony rolled out of his chair and onto the floor, still laughing his head off.

"Stark! What in God's name did you do?!" Steve Rogers asked as he burst into the room Tony was in.

Seeing Tony would be no help, Steve looked at Grace and Agent Hill and asked, "Where's Bruce?!"

Grace just pointed in the direction the large green man had gone, and Agent Hill pinched the bridge of her nose.

Steve took off in the direction Dr. Banner had gone, and Agent Hill said, "Do you think that's wise Captain?"

"Maria, are you kidding me? The worst he can do is throw me against a wall. No worse than he's already done to the rest of this place," Steve replied, chuckling in the process.

As Grace and Agent Hill rose to their feet, and watched the retreating figure of Captain Rogers, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff entered the room where Tony was still trying to catch his breath on the floor.

"What happened here?" Natasha asked.

"Ask him," Agent Hill said pointing at Tony.

As Natasha and Clint started to question Tony, they all felt a whoosh of air, and saw Thor Odinson drop down in front of Tony.

"Where did he go?" Thor questioned Tony.

Tony just pointed in the direction of the still crumbling walls, as he started to stand up. Thor then flew off through the walls in the direction the Captain and the Doctor had gone.

Agent Hill looked at Grace, sighed, and said, "They, Miss Jackson, are the… Avengers."


	4. Settling In

After three hours of tracking down Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, and Thor Odinson; a couple dozen on-sight trained FBI; and a very angry Nick Fury, things started to die down.

"Well, it looks like the new recruit has had an eventful first few hours on the job!" Fury said after he started to calm down.

Grace looked at Fury, and gave him a small chuckle. "I didn't-" she started to say, but was interrupted by loud shouts coming from the room next door.

"Sounds like Steve and Tony are at it again," Clint said.

"Where's Bruce?" Natasha asked.

"He is in recovery; more like prison, until he cools down. All the same, he needs to be away from his best friend for a while," Agent Hill replied.

"Why can't you just act your age for once in your freaking life?!" Steve yelled.

"Why don't you get off my case Captain Underpants?! Bruce is just as much at fault here as I am!" Tony replied.

"If you just thought for once before you acted! Oh, that's right! You never think! You just do!" Steve replied, the anger in his voice getting stronger by the second.

"How is it that everything I do is so childish to you?! Take away your "superpowers" and what are you? Nothing but the bottom feeder you used to be!" Tony heatedly replied.

"Alright, I think it's about time I break this up," Clint said rushing into the room and stepping in between the two angry men.

"Clint, this isn't your fight!" Steve said pushing his hand away from his chest.

"Yeah. If the Captain here wants to go a few rounds, we'll go," Tony replied.

Natasha stepped in where Clint had been standing and started to lay down the law. "Listen here dipstick," she said pointing at Tony. "You need to cool your overheated arc reactor down before I shove an iceberg where the sun doesn't shine."

Then, pointing at Steve, she said, "and you. Everything may not be a game to you like Tony, but he doesn't blow his lid at the littlest crumbling of a wall. Not everything is Tony's fault, although we would like to blame everything like global warming, and the Ice Age on him."

Tony and Steve both started daggers at each other until Natasha shoved them both away and said, "Get the heck out of here! Both of you!"

Grace, Fury, Coulson, and Hill had all come in to watch the spectacle unfolding in the room. Grace could see the muscles in Steve's jaw twitch as he thought about his next move. He chose to be the bigger man by being the one to walk away first. He stomped out of the room without taking another look back.

"He'll go punch a sandbag a couple times and he'll be fine," Clint said after Steve was gone.

Tony continued to stare in the direction the Captain had gone, fists still clenched, and you could almost see the steam rolling from his ears.

"Well, you all have definitely made a lasting first impression on the new recruit over here," Fury said to break the tension in the room.

Tony glanced Grace's way, and without saying a word, stalked out of the room.

Clint walked over to Grace and gave her a big bear hug. "Welcome to the family- What's your name?" He asked as he set her down.

"Grace…" Grace replied a little uneasy.

"Welcome to the family Grace. Good to have another beautiful girl waltzing around the place," Clint said.

Grace looked at Natasha and saw her eye twitch. She was ticked, Grace could tell.

Clint followed Grace's gaze, and said, "Don't worry about Tasha. She doesn't like anyone." He was really ticking Natasha off, and he knew it. He knew just which buttons to push and how to push them.

Natasha briefly glared at Grace, then stalked out of the room.

"Well then…" Clint said after a few seconds' silence. "I guess I'll see you around pretty lady."

He winked at Grace then left the room in the same direction Natasha had gone.

"Wow, you've already made enemies. That must be a new record," Agent Hill snorted.

"Mr. Stark will come around, he always does. Although, I can't say the same thing for Miss Romanoff. She is a hard egg to crack, and half the time isn't even civil to Barton, who is after all, her partner," Coulson said.

"I hope we don't have any more surprises today," Fury said aiming his gaze at Agent Hill.

"I will try my best to keep The Avengers amicable for the rest of the evening. However, tomorrow is another day," Agent Hill replied.

After Fury and the other Agents had left the room, it left Coulson, Hill, and Grace in the room.

"Well ladies, I'll leave you to it," Coulson said.

"Actually Coulson. I need you to show Ms. Jackson where she'll be spending her cold, lonely nights. I have some business to attend to," Agent Hill quickly interjected.

"Alright then, follow me Ms. Jackson," Coulson replied as Agent Hill quickly exited the room.

As they were making their way to the sleeping quarters, Agent Coulson started telling Grace what things she would be doing in the coming months. "You will be going on small missions with The Avengers to see what work they do in the field. Don't worry. Nothing dangerous; just small stuff. You will also be spending time with each individual team member. Getting to know more about them; their strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes."

"Sir, if you don't mind. Shouldn't I be like, physically training instead of training the be the Avenger's Mother?" Grace asked.

"You need to know every little possible thing about these Agents. They are the world's elite in each specific area they perform. If any one of them are harmed in any way, a field agent like I or Agent Hill step in to finish the job they weren't able as best we can. So saying, if one of The Avengers, say Tony gets hurt in combat, I would need to know every little detail of the mission he was on, and how to pick up where he left of. Thus saying, I would need to know what he does on missions, to be able to continue his job," Agent Coulson replied. "You're not mothering them. You're learning how they tick, and that's what makes a good agent. And look, I know we got off on the wrong foot to start with. I think you'll do fine, you just need to step up your game a little bit. Nick Fury is a hard person to please, and Agent Hill is definitely _not_ going to make your life here easy. But just between us, I'm on your side."

Coulson then winked at her, which really caught her off guard. He led her down a corridor, and to a grouping of doors.

"Your neighbor across the hall is Natasha, your neighbor to your right is Agent Hill, and your neighbor to your left is Clint. Get a good night's rest because we start bright and early around here. Tomorrow morning I will find you and Agent Hill and start briefing you on your daily duties; such as who you will be shadowing, and what missions you need to accompany them on. Good luck… Grace," Coulson said. Then, he walked down the corridor and disappeared through a doorway.

Grace opened the door to her room, walked in, then shut the door behind her. The room was a cold, and uninviting steel, grey color. It was cold, and there was a single cot in the corner. Not what she had expected; and that weird wink she got from Coulson? He also had used her first name, instead of calling her Ms. Or Miss Jackson. What was that all about?

Grace suddenly realized that she was exhausted. Her luggage had been brought in earlier, so she quickly changed, and settled into bed. She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow, and slept till the morning dawned.


	5. Morning Lineup

Morning came too soon for Grace Jackson. Her first full day of working at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters was about to begin, and it wasn't starting off to great with Agent Hill banging on her door. Apparently Grace took too long to respond to Agent Hill's incessant knocking because in two seconds flat, Hill had Grace's room door open and was yelling a barrage of not-so-nice good morning comments.

"You're burning daylight newbie! Get your lazy butt out of bed and get down to breakfast at 0600 hours," Hill shouted. Then, as quickly as she had entered, she left, leaving Grace's door wide ajar.

Grace glanced at the alarm clock she had set up before she went to sleep. _Five thirty a.m.?! God, it's TOO early! _Grace thought.

Grace stumbled her way out of bed and was reaching for her door when Clint Barton appeared in her doorway.

"Good morning gorgeous! Sleep well?" Clint asked her.

"You're extremely cheerful this morning…" Grace replied.

"Yepp. I got to see you first thing didn't I?" He said.

"Okay Barton, you might wanna cut it out. Natasha's gonna be extremely ticked off at you, in addition to already hating me. I just want to lay low to start with, so let's just cut the crap. I mean, it's obvious you already have a thing for her, so lay off…" was Grace's curt reply.

"Alright then," Clint replied, a mock form of hurt in his voice.

"And I'm not stupid Barton. I can see right through that phony tone in your voice," Grace said as he walked away.

Grace looked down the hallway at Barton's retreating figure, then saw Natasha staring at her from her own bedroom doorway.

"Good choice," was all Natasha said to her as she closed her own door, and headed down the hallway in the direction the famed archer, and former assassin, went.

Grace scoffed at Natasha's retreating figure, and as she closed her door, she quietly said to herself, "You're not here to make friends, you're here for the job. Screw her over-active imagination. She'll get over it."

Grace quickly dressed, and headed toward the morning breakfast area.

Agent Coulson was the first person to spot her coming, and smiled at her. A smile that he quickly removed from his face once he realized how publicly he was showing his new found feelings. Were they really even feelings?

Coulson took on an air of superiority and walked up to Grace.

"Good Morning Miss Jackson," he said.

There it was again, the curse of the last name. Back to the beginning.

"Morning Agent Coulson," Grace replied.

Grace looked around. The only team member who wasn't in attendance was Bruce.

"Doctor Banner will be here for our evening meeting. He is still under surveillance for the next eight hours," Nick Fury boomed from across the room.

"Well, looks like everyone is in attendance, so let's get down to business," Agent Hill said, as she surveyed the room. "If you haven't been properly introduced yet, Avengers Team, this is Grace Jackson the new recruit. She will be shadowing and mission hopping with all of you on a daily basis. First person on the list to shadow is, Stark. Miss Jackson, for the first week or two, you will just be shadowing the Avengers, and not going on actual assignments. We want you to know as much as possible before we send you out onto more dangerous grounds."

"It's already dangerous here," Grace mumbled under her breath.

Agent Hill must have heard her because she glanced her way with a wary look on her face, but said nothing.

"Stark, don't kill her," Agent Hill continued, looking at Stark.

Before Agent Hill had time to move on, Tony said, "I can't make any promises." Giving Grace a sideways glance in the process.

"Rogers, I want you down in rehab with Banner until his probation time is up. It doesn't seem fair that both parties responsible aren't down there, but that's just the way it is," Agent Hill began.

"Excuse me, but I don't recall me turning into a huge, green, rage-monster. Do you?" Tony asked, looking around the room for anyone who dared answer him.

Agent Hill continued her agenda list without giving Tony a second glance. "Romanoff and Barton, Fury will be briefing you shortly after this meeting on an assignment you're needed for. Thor, Coulson and I will be sticking closely with you today. We have some new techniques to go over with you. I do believe that's it Avengers. Fuel up and get going."

Then, Agent Hill, Agent Coulson, and Nick Fury left the room, leaving Grace with the Avengers.

"Good Morning Grace Jackson. Where do you hail from?" Thor asked her as he reached into a top cabinet and grabbed a box of cereal.

"I, uh-"

"A good agent never tells where she comes from. It not only endangers herself, but those who reside around her. Everyone knows that," Natasha cut her off.

Grace just glared at her, then said to Thor, "I think we're really on a need-to-know basis right now. And right now, you don't need to know. Not meaning to be rude, but that's just the way it is."

_God, it's like Natasha thinks I'm training to be a deadly assassin like her. I'm not that cold-hearted, _Grace thought.

"As you wish," Thor replied, slightly hurt.

"What about you muscle man?" Grace asked, trying to ease the awkward silence.

"You don't need to know," Thor replied, with a hint of mischief in his voice.

Grace just smiled at him, gave him a nod as if to say, 'well played', then returned to the task at hand. Getting some grub.

She looked through the cabinets and noticed there were boxes of cereal, poptarts, pancake mix, waffle mix, muffin mix, and a small carton of eggs and milk in the fridge. There was nothing left of the cereal and poptarts, so she decided to make a quick batch of pancakes.

As she was mixing up the batter, Clint appeared over her shoulder.

"Do I smell pancake batter?" He asked.

"You might," she replied, chuckling.

"Need help?" He asked, still peering over her shoulder.

She looked at him and said, "Nope, think I'm good. I have made pancakes once or twice in my lifetime."

"Pancakes?"

"Who's making pancakes?"

"I want some!"

There was a resounding wave of comments coming from the table where everyone was sitting. Comments from everyone except Tony.

"Well, I guess I could make some for you guys. Does no one take the time to ever make them?" Grace asked.

"Nope, they're all too lazy to fix some themselves," Tony said nonchalantly.

Grace just groaned at his lack of people skills, and said to Clint, "Still wanna help?"

He put on an apron and said, "Where do I start?"

By the time Clint and Grace had made enough pancakes for everyone who wanted them, there was syrup, egg shells, and pancake batter all over the stove and countertop.

"These are exceptionally made Grace and Clint. You must grace us with your cooking skills on another morning such as this," Thor said after he had his fill.

Even Tony had managed to eat four or five of the pancakes that were left in the middle of the table.

"I'll clean up here everyone. Go ahead and get on with the day," Steve said as they all finished up to leave.

"Are you sure?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, go on ahead. It won't take long," Steve replied.

Everyone got up and left the room except for Tony, Grace, and Steve.

Steve was over by the sink, washing the dishes the Grace piled next to it. Tony was still sitting at the table, staring holes into the back of Grace's head.

"I can feel that you know," Grace said, as she turned around to look Tony dead in the eye.

"Feel what?" Tony asked innocently.

"You hate me, and I don't quite know why," Grace replied.

"I don't hate you. You just showed up at the wrong time. You saw my bad side. Although, I'm not much of a people-person."

"I can tell."

"Well then, shall we?" Tony asked, as he got up from the table.

Before Grace left the kitchen counter, Steve whispered in her ear, "Good luck."

Grace just smiled at him, mouthed her thanks, and followed Tony out the door.

_Here we go…_


	6. Stark and Banner Banter

Grace felt uneasy being in a closed room with Tony Stark for hours on end. It had been almost two hours since he started working in his lab, and hadn't said a word to her. Everything he was looking at, reading, and doing was so mechanical and way over her head that she didn't dare ask any questions for fear of looking like an imbecile.

"You haven't said a word since we've been in here…" Tony said slowly. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"God, I don't know. What do you think?" Grace replied, perturbed.

Tony set down what he was working on, and came to where Grace was standing. He leaned on the lab bench across from her, and said, "Ok, look. I'm a little kid at heart, because I was never able to be a kid. No one here understands me, and every time I have a little fun, crap hits the fan, and then I get blamed. I'm not saying it isn't my fault, but the pale-skinned, lab rats here need to lighten up a little bit."

Grace just looked at Tony, then said, "I understand what you're saying. Everyone needs to have a little fun, but making Doctor Banner turn into the Hulk and go on a rampage just because of a game was pretty immature."

"He knew what he was getting himself into when we started playing. Bruce and I are really good friends, and when you're like us, and sit in a lab with white paneled walls and white tiled floors for days on end, you've gotta have something to pass the time," Tony replied. "Steve has never really gotten used to the child in me. There's just something in his tone that reminds me of my dad, and it makes me want to puke."

Grace looked at Tony rather sympathetically, then said, "I get the feeling that Rogers just thinks he needs to look out for everyone on the team."

"Yeah, and one of these days, he's gonna slip up, and I'm never going to let him hear the end of it. I will haunt him until the day he dies… if he ever does," Tony replied with a glint of humor in his voice.

Grace smiled, and said, "Alright, so now that we're on good terms, is there anything over there in that pile of crazy that I can help you with?"

"You really want to try?" Tony asked surprised.

"Got nothin' better to do," Grace replied nonchalantly.

For the next three hours, Grace tried to help Tony with whatever he was doing to the best of her ability. She constantly had to ask him to speak in "English", or at least in words that she could understand. Things were actually going pretty great until about 7 o'clock in the evening when they had a visitor.

"It looks like I've been replaced," Grace and Tony heard a voice behind them say.

Tony recognized the voice, so he didn't look up from what he was working on. "Yeah, she's a lot prettier than you too."

Grace looked at Tony and he had a small smile on his face.

"Sorry I put you in a jail cell for 24 hours Bruce. You really need to learn to control that temper of yours," Tony said, barely containing his laughter.

Grace looked up to see Bruce chuckle quietly. "You never quit do you?" He asked.

Tony set down what he was doing, and turned around to look at Bruce. "Don't get any ideas," he shouted as he threw his arms around Grace. "She's mine!"

"Uhm, no, Pepper is yours. Grace is free game," Bruce said with a little evil smile on his face.

Tony dropped his arms, shrugged, and said, "Oh yeah." To Grace, "Sorry babe, you're on your own."

Grace was already a little uneasy being around Bruce just because of what had happened the day before. Bruce could see the uneasiness flashing in her eyes, so he wiped the evil grin off his face, and walked up to Grace, then stuck out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Bruce Banner. We haven't formally met, and it's nice to have you here with us," he said politely.

"Yeah, she met the 'other guy' though," Tony added.

"Yeah, okay, thanks for pointing that out Tony," Bruce said.

"Sorry about that by the way. I'm a sore loser I guess," he replied laughing. Which made Tony start laughing uncontrollably.

_Okay, these guys are officially labeled psychos in my book. Too bad they're so gosh dang smart, and HOT. Ugh!_ Grace thought.

"Well, I'm afraid I haven't been much help to Tony today. So by all means, take your place back," Grace said.

"You helped, it just took ten times longer," Tony replied, smiling.

"That's okay, you were done here anyway. Agent Hill sent me up here to get you, and said for you to go to the kitchen. They'll be waiting for you there," Bruce replied.

"Okay, thanks Doctor Banner. Sorry I wasn't much help Tony," Grace replied.

"No problem. Good luck," Tony replied as she walked out the door.

Grace arrived in the kitchen to find Agent Hill, Agent Coulson, and Nick Fury sitting around the bar.

"It's about time," Agent Hill said sternly. "I didn't think you would ever show up."

"Maybe you need to have me chipped. That way you can call me whenever you need me… like a dog," Grace replied curtly.

Fury chuckled, then coughed to hide it. Grace smiled to herself knowing she was slowly making him like her.

Agent Hill scoffed, and then spread out a file of papers on the bar.

"You spent an entire day with Tony Stark and you're still alive, so I think you can handle Agent Romanoff tomorrow," Agent Hill said as she handed Grace a paper from the file. "This is all that you'll need to know about Agent Romanoff so you don't make her want to kill you."

"Correction… That paper is _ALL_ we know about Agent Romanoff," Fury said. "She has a past, but she has buried it, and we prefer _not_ to dig it up. Just read over that paper, try not to royally tick her off, and you should be good.

"Is that all you wanted?" Grace asked, a little perturbed that they interrupted her time with Tony.

"Yeah, I think that's it Miss Jackson. Be up and ready BEFORE I have to get your butt out of bed tomorrow why don't you?" Agent Hill said.

Grace glared at her, smiled at Fury and Coulson, then left to her room.

_Tomorrow is going to be like walking through the gates of hell… _Grace thought.


End file.
